By Jeff McDonald, Staff Writer | San Antonio Express-News (SAEN), 2026-06-01 13:20:12
2026年3月1日，星期日，纽约尼克斯队主教练迈克·布朗在纽约对阵圣安东尼奥马刺队的NBA比赛下半场执教。（美联社照片/塞斯·温尼格）
纽约尼克斯队主教练迈克·布朗 (Mike Brown) 确实有充分的理由支持圣安东尼奥马刺队击败俄克拉荷马雷霆队并晋级NBA总决赛。
他的动机纯粹是出于个人私利。
“如果我们在总决赛对阵圣安东尼奥，那能帮我省不少钱，因为我的家人就住在圣安东尼奥，”布朗说，“这样我就不用买机票了。”
幸得马刺在周六的西部决赛抢七大战中以111-103击败雷霆，布朗的银行账户得以“逃过一劫”。
NBA总决赛的第一场比赛将于周三在霜冻银行中心球馆（Frost Bank Center）打响。
对于现年56岁的布朗来说，这轮系列赛在某种程度上将是一次重返故里之旅。
布朗曾在2000年至2003年期间担任格雷格·波波维奇 (Gregg Popovich) 的助理教练，期间马刺队击败新泽西网队，夺得了队史第二座总冠军奖杯。
他与这座城市至今仍保持着紧密的联系，但这还不足以让他在这轮特定的系列赛中对马刺网开一面。
“他们绝对想击败我，而我也想狠狠地教训他们，”布朗说道。
今年将是布朗第三次参与有马刺队在场的NBA总决赛。
2007年，他作为克利夫兰骑士队的主教练，亲历了马刺横扫骑士夺得队史第四座总冠军奖杯。
不过，布朗对去年夏天宣布退休的波波维奇依然心怀温情。
“他依然拥有巨大的影响力，而且这种影响力将永远存在，”布朗说，“无论是他在场上为那支球队和那家俱乐部所做的工作，还是他在场外的贡献，只要篮球运动还存在，他的印记就将永远留存。”
马刺和尼克斯之间的渊源远不止布朗一人。
马刺助理教练斯科特·金 (Scott King) 于2024年被从纽约挖角。尼克斯替补前锋杰里米·索汉 (Jeremy Sochan) 在去年2月加盟纽约之前，职业生涯的前三个半赛季都是在马刺度过的。
马刺队的明星后卫德阿隆·福克斯 (De’Aaron Fox) 在2025年2月被交易到圣安东尼奥之前，曾萨克拉门托在布朗麾下效力了两个半赛季。
布朗表示，他期待着重温这些旧日情谊——不过那得等总决赛结束之后。
“你感激这些人，也感激这段旅程，”布朗说，“但归根结底，就像他们想击败你一样，你也绝对想击败他们。”
尚帕尼对鸣笛庆祝深感兴趣
在圣安东尼奥的首次季后赛之旅中，马刺前锋朱利安·尚帕尼 (Julian Champagnie) 已经深深感受到了这座阿拉莫之城的季后赛传统。
那就是鸣笛。
“我妻子曾告诉我，她说：‘他们会按喇叭。’”尚帕尼说道，“我当时心想：‘按喇叭？’她说：‘他们在市中心按喇叭。’我说：‘行，那咱们去见识见识。’”
这个传统其实很简单。在季后赛取得大胜后，球迷们会纷纷涌入私家车，在城市里巡游，并鸣笛庆祝。
今年春天早些时候的一场季后赛胜利后，尚帕尼也跳进自己的车里，加入了他们的行列。
“之前赢球的时候我就想去看看，但我当时想，还是等我们赢下一轮系列赛之后，我再去市中心看看热闹吧，”尚帕尼说，“但那场面太棒了，现场气氛简直疯狂。……那种能量太棒了，我爱我们的球迷。”
马刺给雷霆留下深刻烙印
在马刺赢下抢七大战后，雷霆队球员对于这场失利是否应该引发俄克拉荷马城内部的深刻反思产生了分歧。
一些专家坚信，这轮系列赛的胜利证明了马刺在未来将持续对雷霆的夺冠前景构成威胁。
雷霆后卫亚历克斯·卡鲁索 (Alex Caruso) 对此并不认同。
“没有什么问题是需要解决的，”卡鲁索说，“我们本可以在（周六的）比赛中胜出，那样的话你们就会去问他们同样的问题了。我不认为存在什么‘克星’的说法。我们本应该打得更好，赢下比赛，然后晋级总决赛。”
雷霆前锋杰伦·威廉姆斯 (Jalen Williams) 表示，这支马刺队让他想起了去年夺得NBA总冠军的那支雷霆队。
“和他们交手真的很奇妙，因为感觉就像是在和另一个版本的自己打球，”威廉姆斯说，“但这也令人兴奋。我们从不畏惧竞争。”
威廉姆斯承认，在可预见的未来，马刺将成为雷霆以及西部其他球队的拦路虎。
但他认为这是一件好事。
“他们会强大很长时间，我们也会强大很长时间，”威廉姆斯说，“这意味着会有更多人关注比赛，这也意味着收入会水涨船高。未来的日子会相当不错。”
由生成式人工智能翻译，译文内容可能不准确或不完整，以原文为准。
点击查看原文：Knicks coach Mike Brown was rooting for Spurs to reach the NBA Finals
Knicks coach Mike Brown was rooting for Spurs to reach the NBA Finals
New York Knicks’ head coach Mike Brown during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the San Antonio Spurs Sunday, March 1, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
New York coach Mike Brown had a good reason to pull for the Spurs to beat the Oklahoma City Thunder and advance to the NBA Finals.
His motive was purely one of self interest.
“If we play San Antonio, it would save me some money because my family lives in San Antonio,” Brown said. “I don’t have to buy airline tickets.”
Brown’s bank account got a reprieve, courtesy of the Spurs’ 111-103 victory over the Thunder in Game 7 of the Western Conference finals on Saturday.
Game 1 of the NBA Finals is Wednesday at the Frost Bank Center.
For the 56-year-old Brown, the series will mark a homecoming of sorts.
Brown was an assistant under Gregg Popovich from 2000 through 2003, when the Spurs won their second league title over the New Jersey Nets.
He still has ties to the city, but not enough to harbor a soft spot for the Spurs in this particular series.
“They definitely want to beat me, and I want to kick their ass,” Brown said.
This year marks the third time Brown will be involved in an NBA Finals involving the Spurs.
He was the coach in Cleveland in 2007, when the Spurs swept the Cavaliers to win their fourth NBA championship.
Brown does still harbor a soft spot for Popovich, who retired from coaching last summer.
“He still has a huge presence, he’ll always have a presence,” Brown said. “The job that he’s done, not only on the court with that team or that organization, but off the court too, is going to be imprinted as long as the game of basketball exists.”
The ties between the Spurs and Knicks go beyond Brown.
Spurs assistant Scott King was hired away from New York in 2024. Knicks reserve forward Jeremy Sochan spent his first 3 1/1 seasons with the Spurs before joining New York last February.
De’Aaron Fox, the Spurs’ All-Star guard, spent 2 ½ seasons playing for Brown in Sacramento before being traded to San Antonio in February 2025.
Brown said he is looking forward to rekindling all of those connections – once the Finals are over.
“You appreciate the people, you appreciate the journey,” Brown said. “But at the end of the day, just like they want to beat you, you definitely want to beat them.”
Champagnie intrigued by honking
Throughout his first playoff run in San Antonio, Spurs forward Julian Champagnie has become indoctrinated in an Alamo City playoff tradition.
Honking.
“My wife had told me, she was like, ‘They honk,’ ” Champagnie said. “I’m like, ‘They honk?’ She was like, ‘They honk downtown.’ I’m like, ‘Alright, let’s go see it.’ ”
The tradition is simple enough. After a big playoff win, fans pile in their cars, cruise around the city and honk their horns in celebration.
After one playoff win earlier this spring, Champagnie hopped in his vehicle to join them.
“I wanted to go see it earlier when we won, but I figured let’s win a series and then I can go down there and kind of just see what’s going on,” Champagnie said. “But it was great. The energy is crazy. … the energy is great and I love the fans.”
Spurs leave lasting mark on Thunder
After the Spurs’ Game 7 victory, Thunder players were split on whether the loss should result in much soul searching around Oklahoma City.
Some pundits were convinced the series win proved the Spurs to be an ongoing threat to OKC’s title chances moving forward.
Thunder guard Alex Caruso disagreed.
“There’s nothing that needs to be solved,” Caruso said. “We could have won the game (Saturday), and you would have been asking them the same thing. I don’t think there’s this narrative that this is a bugaboo. We should have played better and won the game and been in the NBA Finals.”
OKC forward Jalen Williams said the Spurs reminded him a bit of the Thunder squad that won last year’s NBA championship.
“It’s honestly crazy playing them because it feels like we’re playing a version of ourselves,” Williams said. “But it’s also exciting. We don’t run from competition.”
Williams acknowledged the Spurs will be an obstacle to the Thunder and other Western Conference teams for the foreseeable future.
He views this as a good thing.
“They’re going to be good for a long time, and we’re going to be good for a long time,” Williams said. “It means people will watch the games, which means the money will go up. Life will be pretty good for a while."
By Jeff McDonald, Staff Writer, via San Antonio Express-News